Michael Foale

Michael Foale has experienced many things that are out of this world- quite literally. Formerly an astronaut for NASA, Michael has spent an impressive amount of time in space and formerly held the record for the most amount of time spent in space by a US citizen with a tally of 374 days, 11 hours and 19 minutes. With such amazing experiences under his belt as a veteran of six space missions, Michael is now booked as a speaker for a range of corporate and public events. When booked as a speaker, Michael is sought to share his incredible experiences of time in space and space technology.

Before experiencing his amazing career in outer space, Michael studied at the University of Cambridge Queen’s College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and Natural Sciences Tripos. He then went on to study for a Doctorate, graduating with a Doctorate in Laboratory Astrophysics. Michael then went on to join the NASA Johnson Space Centre, where he worked as the Payload Officer in the Mission Control Centre before being selected to become an astronaut in 1987. Michael began his career at the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation, where he verified Space Shuttle navigation software. He joined the NASA Johnson Space Centre, serving as a payload officer in the Mission Control Centre. In preparation for a long-duration flight on the Russian Space Station Mir, Michael trained at the Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia. Michael is a veteran of STS-45, STS-56, STS-63, STS-84, STS-103 and TMA-3 space missions. Throughout his time as an astronaut, Michael has spent an impressive number of hours aboard both the Mir and the International Space Station, claiming the title of the only NASA astronaut to have flown extended missions on both stations. When aboard a space mission in 1997, Michael saved the Mir station from disaster after Russians launched rubbish into space, which hit the Mir. Isolating the area after a drop in air pressure, Michael saved himself from catastrophe. He also participated in repairing the Hubble telescope and was the commander of the ISS during Expedition 8. 

Michael also acted as Chief of the Astronaut Office Expedition Corps, the Assistant Director of the Johnson Space Centre, and Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Operations at NASA Headquarters. His final assignment at the Johnson Space Centre was as Chief of the Soyuz Branch, Astronaut Office. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and of the Institute of Physics and was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. Michael is the founder of Foale Aerospace, where he advised the Inspiration Mars Foundation as a technical lead on the refurbishment and reuse of an Apollo Command Module for returning a crew to Earth from Mars. He has also tested rocket motors for Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship 2.

As a result of his pioneering work, he is the recipient of two prizes at EEA AirVenture Oshkosh for his application of AI in preventing the loss of control accidents in General Aviation. He also won the Americas Prize for the Intel-Altera-Microsoft FPGA Innovation Competition. Having experienced extraordinary things that some of us will never get to, Michael is now booked as a speaker for corporate events to share his incredible experiences as an astronaut. Currently developing AI for aircraft and glider anomaly detection, Michael is an insightful and engaging speaker, great for a multitude of different events.